NJ bridge damaged in derailment will be replaced

PAULSBORO (AP) — A movable bridge in New Jersey where a train derailed last year will be replaced.

Conrail officials said that a new swing bridge over Mantua Creek in Paulsboro should be operational by September 2014. The current span will remain in use until then, but the waterway below it will remain inaccessible to boaters until construction is complete.

A half-dozen rail cars derailed on the bridge in November. One tanker released vinyl chloride into the air.

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No one was seriously sickened, but more than 300 homes and businesses were evacuated for parts of the next week.

Conrail spokesman Michael Hotra says the decision to replace the bridge was made because it would have taken roughly the same amount of time to repair the current span.